As a proud father of three, I understand first hand how transformative children can be. My life is fuller, richer, and infinitely more positive for the experience. As a Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon, however, I also understand the toll that childbirth can take on a woman’s body. Depending on your unique anatomy, the skin and tissues of your abdomen and breasts may have stretched past their ability to “bounce back”. As if this isn’t hard enough on a new mother’s self-esteem, we are living in a time, thanks to social media, of extreme pressure to look bikini ready within weeks of giving birth. It’s absurd. It also helps explain why so many mothers complain about not feeling like themselves following pregnancy. A Mommy Makeover can be an effective method for returning to yourself both physically and emotionally. But as the procedure has gained in popularity over the last decade, there is also a lot of misinformation online. So, here’s my cheat sheet on Mommy Makeover — true & false.
Mommy Makeover Can Change Your Body: True
It’s true that a Mommy Makeover has the power to produce a profound change in your body contour. The procedure is actually a combination of procedures that typically address the abdomen and the breasts, as these are the two areas most affected by pregnancy. This may include a:
- Tummy Tuck
- Breast Augmentation
- Breast Lift
- Breast Lift with Implants
- Breast Reduction
As mentioned, it is very common for the skin and tissues in these two areas to have stretched past their ability to “bounce back” to your pre-pregnancy state. This means that though you may have lost the baby weight, you can still have hanging skin that makes you look and feel heavy. A Mommy Makeover allows me to remove excess fat, lift hanging tissue, and tighten loose muscles, leaving you with a smoother, leaner looking torso.
Tummy Tuck & Breast Surgery Only = Mommy Makeover: False
In order to deliver exemplary results for my Long Island patients, any aesthetic procedure that I perform is tailored to the individual anatomy and needs of the patient. So while it’s true that a tummy tuck and breast surgery are commonly the core of a Mommy Makeover, I am always thinking about your torso in 360°. Given the specific changes that pregnancy may have taken on your body, a Mommy Makeover may also include:
- 4D VASER/PAL Hi-Definition Liposuction (Liposculpture)
- Fat Grafting
- BBL
- Renuvion
- Labiaplasty
The goal is to lift, tone and sculpt your torso into its ideal proportion.
Recovery from Mommy Makeover is Awful: False
If you’ve been reading about a Mommy Makeover online, chances are that you’ve been told that the recovery is intense. This does not have to be true. I am one of a handful of plastic surgeons in the country who offers a One Day Recovery Breast Augmentation. My goal is to deliver the best possible outcome with the least amount of recovery time. I take this same approach with any breast surgery procedure as well as the tummy tuck. The latter is the portion of the Mommy Makeover requiring the most recovery.
In order to get you back to your normal routine as quickly as possible, I first use an abdominoplasty technique that eliminates the need for drainage tubes. This will not only make you feel more comfortable, but it also helps to hasten your recovery. Second, I employ Exparel during surgery. This non-narcotic anesthetic has been proven to dramatically reduce post-operative discomfort. With less pain, patients need less narcotics which, again, speeds up the recovery process. Bottom line, most of my patients are back to the majority of their daily routines by 2-3 weeks. And all would agree that the recovery time is well worth the end result.
To find out more about a Mommy Makeover or any surgical or non-surgical procedure with Dr. Mark Epstein in Hauppauge, Long Island, contact us today or call 631-689-1100 to schedule a consultation.
